Sunday, July 1, 2007

There are several celebrities who are trying to make their mark in history by jumping on the humanitarian bandwagon. Although we will never know the true reasons for their philanthropy, they are, at the very least, bringing attention to the needs of the poor. One of these people is Bono. Bono received the NAACP Image Award’s Chairman’s Award in 2007 for his work. You can watch his speech on the following video:

In his speech he says, “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die". Think about that. These words impact me. They feel like a heavy load sitting upon my shoulders.

I was born into an upper-middle class family. Hunger and death were nothing that I ever worried about as a child. My parents never had to question from where the next meal would come. As parents, they still worried. Their worries were not of money or food, but instead they worried about my future. They wondered what I would do with my life and they did everything they could to make sure I had every opportunity to be whoever I wanted to be.

I remember, from a fairly young age, questioning the reason for my existence in this world. I remember skiing down the slopes in Colorado and wondering why God put me on the Earth. I have always loved solitude. I loved to go skiing and sing all the way down the mountain. It was in the beautiful, open world that I could really think. I remember thinking that it seemed kind of pointless to be put on this Earth if we were just going to die eventually. I also remember thinking how strange the concept of humanity was in general. What were we all doing here? Yes, I was eight. This just shows the kind of weird kid I was. This thought eventually progressed into the thought of how different my life would be if I were across the world. As I got older and heard stories of little girls getting raped or killed, I always felt so lucky to be born into the family I was. I knew that one of those little girls could be me. Their innocence was taken away at such a young age, while mine remained intact. This brings me back to Bono’s words, “Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die".

As an adult I still wonder why God put me on this Earth. I know God has called me to great things. My life has a purpose and part of that purpose is to help break the cycle of poverty. I have yet to determine what that entails, but I look forward to finding out.